Italy is a peninsula, meaning it is encompassed by the sea on all of its sides apart from one side of the country (its north side). Northern Italy is separated from France, Switzerland, and Austria by the Alps,[8] a chain of mountains. Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco in Italian or white mountain in English), the highest mountain in western Europe,[9] belongs to this chain. The second important chain of mountains in Italy is the Apennines (Appennini in Italian), which are in central and southern Italy.

People from Italy are called Italians. Nearly all the Italians are Christians, and most of these are Roman Catholics, which is based in the Vatican City and home to its leader, the Pope.[16]

The population of Italy is a little over 60 million.[17] About 2.7 million of them live in Rome,[18] and 1.3 million in Milan.[19] As of 31 December 2015, over 5 million foreigners were living in Italy, which is 8.3% of the total population.[20]

The official language of Italy is Italian and in some small areas German, Slovenian or French. People also speak languages such as Sicilian and Sardinian, which are very similar to Italian, but are different dialects of Italian.

There are many different dialects spoken in Italy. They vary between regions and, in some cases, also between provinces.

Italy is home to more World Heritage Sites than any other nation in the world.[21] These sites are culturally important and valued according to UNESCO. About 60% of the works of art of the world are in Italy. Italy is also a big wine producer. In 2005 it made over 5 million tonnes.[22]

Italy has a modern social welfare system. The labor market enjoys relative strength, with many foreigners, especially from Romania, working in Italy where the wages are much higher. But it could have been much more workers on the labor market because men and women already retired in the age of 57 and the unemployment rate is relatively high at 8.2 percent.[23][24] Italy's modern society has been built up through loans and now the country has a catastrophic high debt of €1.9trn or 120 percent of the country's total GDP. And the government can't pay back the loans during the time period the EU wish.[25]

Italy was one of the first members of the European Union and in 2002, along with 11 other European countries, it changed to using the euro as its official currency. Before this, the Italian lira had been used since 1861.

Anyone who wants to be President of Italy must have Italian citizenship, be at least 50 years old, and must be able to hold political and civil rights.

Before 1861, Italy was not a state. The area was made of a group of independent states, ruled by other countries (such as Austria, France, and Spain). In the 1850s the Earl of Camillo Cavour was the Head of Government of the "State of Sardinia". He talked to the Austrians in Lombardy and Veneto and said they should create a Northern Italian state. This happened, but other Central and Southern Italian states also joined Piedmont to create a bigger state.

Veneto was made part of Italy in 1866 after a war with Austria, and Italian soldiers won Latium in 1870. That was when they took away the Pope's power. The Pope, who was angry, said that he was a prisoner to keep Catholic people from being active in politics. That year, Italy finally came back together.

Italy participated in World War I as an ally of Great Britain, France, and Russia against the Central Powers. Almost all of Italy's fighting was on the Eastern border, near Austria. After the "Caporetto defeat", Italy thought they would lose the war. But, in 1918, the Central Powers surrendered, and Italy gained the Trentino-South Tyrol, which once was owned by Austria.

On July 25, 1943, Mussolini was removed by the Great Council of Fascism, and, on September 8, 1943, Badoglio said that the war as an ally of Germany was ended. Italy started fighting as an ally of France and the UK, but Italian soldiers did not know who to shoot. In Northern Italy, a movement called Resistenza started to fight against the German invaders.

Mussolini tried to make another Northern Italian fascist state, the Republic of Salò, but it failed. On April 25, 1945, Italy became free. The state became a republic on June 2, 1946, and, for the first time, women were able to vote. Italian people ended the Savoia dynasty and adopted a republic government.

In February 1947, Italy signed a peace treaty with the Allies losing all the colonies and some territorial areas (Istria and parts of Dalmatia).

Since then Italy has joined NATO and the European Community (as a founding member), becoming one of the seven biggest industrial economies in the world.